Ko“We learned a lot from that game knowing now that we have even more depth in that position,” said Sarachan. “Opare was a little bit of a wildcard because we hadn’t seen him. Knowing now that he pulled through it with high marks, gives us good flexibility and depth.”

Opare is the latest young Galaxy center back to step in and perform well for LA, joining Tommy Meyer who shined down the stretch run last season after A.J. DeLaGarza went down with an injury. Meyer started LA’s final four MLS Regular Season matches and then throughout the MLS Cup playoffs.

After Opare’s performance, the Sarachan is confident the rookie is continuing to progress in his development.

“We’ve seen this now and this is a function of being together for a while that these guys grow and develop in the system and gain confidence through reserve games and good training,” said Sarachan. “I think when he got on the field, I’m sure internally, he was a little nervous, but externally, he showed a lot of confidence and having Omar next to him and veterans near him helped.”